Paediatric Malignancies

D E Joseph

Keywords:
ChildhoodMalignancies, Pattern.

Abstract

This study aims to describe the pattern of paediatric malignancies in a tertiary hospital in North EasternNigeria. Thiswas a retrospective study of all
paediatricmalignancies diagnosed between June 2000 and May 2006 at the Federal Medical Centre, Gombe, Nigeria. Data were collected from the histopathology and haematology registers, as well as patients\' case files and were analyzed. A total of 3,313 children were admitted within the study period. Out of this, 68(2.05%) children aged less than 15 years (M:F=1:1) had histologically confirmed malignancies. Malignant lymphomas were the most common (42.65%) of all the childhood malignancies, with Burkitt\'s lymphoma ranking highest (68.97%). Burkitt\'s lymphoma also accounted for 29.41% of all the
malignancies. Other common malignancies included sarcomas 10(14.71%), neurofibromatosis 9(13.24%), nephroblastoma 8(11.77%), acute lymphoblastic leukaemia
5(7.35%) and retinoblastoma 4(5.88%). The less common paediatric malignancies were melanoma, invasive lobular breast carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the
breast,which together accounted for 4.41%. Burkitt\'s lymphoma is the most frequently
diagnosed malignant neoplasm in children at the Federal MedicalCentre,Gombe.